Make This New Year's Eve Cocktail, Then Just Make Out

Like the parting of your first love’s eager lips, the “Kiss Me Quick” cocktail thrills with youthful sensations of peppermint layered over a foundation of small batch, boutique vodka. ‘Tis the season for just such a nip, which says “goodbye Christmas, hello New Year.”

Here’s the recipe for two, because this is a drink you should share sometime during those wee hours when 2014 is just beginning. Bonus: It couldn’t be easier to make. You just need vodka and peppermint syrup. Double bonus: You don’t need mistletoe or a ball drop when you have a pitcher full of vodka and peppermint on New Year’s Eve. This cocktail is reason enough to kiss the night away.

A Shaker of Kiss Me Quick Triple the ingredients for a pitcher

2 Cups TOPO vodka (organic vodka out of Chapel Hill, N.C.) 1 Cup peppermint simple syrup (Note: To make this simple syrup, combine one-half cup sugar and one-half cup water and heat together until sugar dissolves. Enhance with three drops of peppermint extract, which you can pick up at most grocery stores.)

Pour this over crushed ice in a shaker. Shake until liquid chills, about one and a half minutes. Strain into martini glasses rimmed with red sugar. Find that current love and ask him or her to kiss you quick before you’ll hand it over.